Same glowworms, different caves and very different days underground. The real questions are how much of an adventure you want and how many people you want to share it with.
The short answer
Book the Black Labyrinth for the classic: three hours of tubing through Ruakuri Cave with waterfall jumps and the glowworm float, from age 12. The Black Abyss takes five hours and adds a 35-metre abseil, a zipline and waterfall climbing, from age 16 with good fitness. The Okohua Cave tour runs three and a half hours in a private cave with at most six guests and the guide photos included, from age 12; anyone under 18 needs a caregiver aged 18 or over.
Pick a day, or the first and last day you are around Waitomo. We check the booking calendar of every cave tour and show which ones still have places.
In the next 7 days, all 3 tours on this page still have places.
Cave: Ruakuri Cave
Cave: Ruakuri Cave
Cave: Okohua Glowworm Cave (private)
Every black water rafting trip in Waitomo starts with a wetsuit, boots and a helmet, and every one floats in the dark under a ceiling of glowworms at some point. The Black Labyrinth and the Black Abyss are run by The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co., New Zealand’s first black water rafting company (founded in 1987), through the Ruakuri Cave. The Okohua Cave tour comes from The Waitomo Experience, a family business that takes up to six guests into a private cave on its farm outside the village.
What varies is everything around it. The Black Labyrinth keeps it to three hours of tubing with a couple of backwards waterfall jumps. It is guided step by step and open from age 12. The Black Abyss stretches to five hours and puts a 35-metre abseil, a zipline through a glowworm gallery and waterfall climbing in front of the tubing, from age 16 and with good fitness expected. The Okohua tour takes three and a half hours, mixes walking, wading, swimming and climbing with a tubing section, includes the guide photos and ends in a cedar hot tub, from age 12 with an adult caregiver. The gaps are wide enough that it pays to pick deliberately. This page sorts that out before you book.
Each card carries the same facts from the operator listings. Open one for gear, check-in and age limits.
Three hours of tubing on the underground river: waterfall jumps in the dark, then lights off and a slow float under the glowworms. The entry-level tour, open from age 12 and 45 kg.
The classic black water rafting trip: three hours with The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co., New Zealand's first black water rafting company (founded 1987), floating an underground river through Ruakuri Cave on a rubber tube. You jump backwards off small waterfalls in the dark, then switch off your headlamp and drift under a ceiling of glowworms.
This is the entry-level tour: guided step by step and doable for most reasonably active people from age 12. If you are after ropes, heights and a physical challenge, the Black Abyss is the one built for that.
The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co., 585 Waitomo Caves Road, Waitomo. Check in 30 minutes before your tour starts.
Details as listed by the operator on the booking platform.
The five-hour adventure version: a 35-metre abseil into the cave, a zipline through the glowworm gallery, waterfall climbing and tubing. From age 16, groups capped at 8, good fitness asked for.
The full adventure version of black water rafting: five hours that start with a 35-metre abseil into the cave, continue with a zipline through a glowworm gallery in total darkness, and work through waterfall climbing and tubing on the underground river before you surface again.
Abseil training on the surface is part of the tour, and it ends with a hot shower and soup. The operator asks for good fitness, and the minimum age is 16. This one is clearly more demanding than the Black Labyrinth, which is the point.
The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co., 585 Waitomo Caves Road, Waitomo. Check in 30 minutes before your tour starts.
Details as listed by the operator on the booking platform.
Three and a half hours in a private cave on a family farm: walking, wading, swimming and climbing, a float on the tube under the glowworms and a cedar hot tub at the end. Guide photos and videos are included. From age 12 with an adult caregiver, at most six guests.
A small-group cave adventure in a private cave: Okohua Glowworm Cave lies on Tumu Tumu Station, a family-owned farm about ten minutes from Waitomo Village, and according to The Waitomo Experience no other tour has access to it. After a walk across the farm you climb down into the cave and follow an underground river through large limestone chambers. You walk, wade, swim and climb, and for part of the route you float on a tube under the glowworms.
Groups are capped at six guests, and the guides take photos and videos during the tour. Halfway through there is a snack in the cave, and back at base a hot shower and a cedar hot tub with a view over native bush.
Expect a physical tour: reviewers describe narrow passages and swimming sections, and one mentions a ladder down a narrow tunnel right at the start. The guides offer easier alternatives on some passages. How much of the route you float depends on the water level, and the natural rock slide only runs when it is right.
The Waitomo Experience HQ, 754 Boddies Road, RD1, Te Kuiti, about 10 minutes by car from Waitomo Village. Boddies Road is narrow and unsealed, and mobile reception can drop out, so save the map offline. Check in at the cave building on arrival.
Details as listed by the operator on the booking platform.
What decides whether a cave tour suits you, as each listing states it.
| Tour | Cave | Ropes and jumps | Time underground | Minimum age | Group | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Labyrinth (black water rafting through Ruakuri Cave) | Ruakuri Cave | Waterfall jumps | Not stated | From 12 | up to 12 guests | 3 h |
| Black Abyss (abseil, zipline and black water rafting) | Ruakuri Cave | 35 m abseil, zipline | Not stated | From 16 | up to 8 guests | 5 h |
| Okohua Glowworm Cave (black water rafting with The Waitomo Experience) | Okohua Glowworm Cave (private) | Rock jump (optional) | 2–3 h | From 12 with a caregiver aged 18+ | up to 6 guests | 3.5 h |
From the GetYourGuide listings, checked in October 2026. The duration is the provider’s figure.
| Black Labyrinth | Black Abyss | Okohua Cave | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 3 hours door to door | 5 hours, close to half a day | 3.5 hours, 2 to 3 of them underground |
| Adrenaline level | Moderate: backwards waterfall jumps and darkness, no ropes | High: a 35-metre abseil into the cave, a zipline in the dark, waterfall climbing | Moderate to high: tight passages, climbing, swimming, an optional rock jump |
| Abseiling | None | 35 m, with training on the surface first | None |
| Age & weight limits | From 12 years and 45 kg | From 16 years and 45 kg | From 12 years (under 18 with a caregiver aged 18+), 45 to 118 kg |
| Fitness | Reasonably active is enough | The operator explicitly asks for good fitness | Moderate fitness; reviewers call it physical |
| Group size | Up to 12 participants (minimum 2) | Capped at 8 participants | Up to 6 guests |
| Afterwards | Hot shower | Hot shower and soup | Hot shower and a cedar hot tub |
| Photos | Own cameras not allowed, guide photos sold separately | Own cameras not allowed, guide photos sold separately | Own cameras not allowed, guide photos and videos included |
| Best for | First-timers, mixed groups with teens, glowworm-first visitors | Adventure travellers who want the caves to push back a little | Small groups who want a varied caving route and the photos taken care of |
The current price of each tour is in the table further down and on the tour cards above, live from GetYourGuide or Viator. The facts in this matrix come from the operators’ product listings, checked in September and October 2026.
The most detailed critical review of the Labyrinth is about time: about 1 hour 10 minutes inside the cave, the “fun part” around 20 minutes, the rest going to instructions, wetsuits, the drive to the cave and waiting for the group. It is a guided float with a couple of backwards jumps, not an extreme sport. Ropes, heights and a physical challenge are what the Black Abyss adds. Match the tour to the day you actually want.
The cave water stays cool all year. On the Black Abyss the cold comes up in several reviews, one of them from February, midsummer in New Zealand. The wetsuit helps, and the hot shower afterwards helps more. Personal cameras are not allowed on either Legendary tour; the guides’ pictures are sold separately afterwards, and one critical Black Abyss review takes issue with that. Labyrinth departures run with up to 12 participants, the Abyss with up to 8, each with a fixed rhythm.
The Okohua reviews hold no real complaints, and the points worth knowing sit inside positive ones. One reviewer asks for it to be made very clear how physical the tour is, with clambering, swimming and a narrow ladder at the start, and another got less tubing than usual because the water was low. The cold comes up here too: one review names 12 degrees.
On the positive side, reviews of every tour here often praise the guides, usually by name, and several single out the float under the glowworms in complete darkness.
You want the Black Labyrinth if this is your first time underground. It packs the river, the jumps and the glowworm float into three hours, without ropes and without a fitness bar to clear. With someone aged 12 to 15 in the group it works for everyone, and it is the more predictable choice if you are unsure how you handle dark, enclosed spaces.
You want the Black Abyss if the adventure is the point. The 35-metre abseil is the real thing, the zipline runs through a glowworm gallery in total darkness, and the waterfall climbs at the end ask something of your arms and legs. Book it when the whole group is 16 or older, reasonably fit, and happy to spend five hours on it.
You want the Okohua Cave tour if the small group matters to you. Six guests at most, a cave that according to the operator no other tour visits, a route that mixes climbing and swimming with the float, and the guide photos included. Teenagers from 12 can join with an adult on the same tour. It asks for moderate fitness and some ease in water, and reviewers mention tight passages. More on the Okohua Cave page.
You want neither if you mainly want to look at glowworms. That is not a consolation prize: the quiet boat tour through the Waitomo Glowworm Caves shows you the same phenomenon warm, dry and with no age gate. Our sister site Glowworm Caves compares those tours. Wet or dry is the real first question, before the choice between the rafting tours even comes up.
If you want the classic glowworm tubing trip, book the Black Labyrinth. If you want ropes, heights and a physical challenge on top of it, book the Black Abyss, as long as the whole group is 16 or older and reasonably fit. If you want a group of six, a varied caving route and the photos included, book the Okohua Cave tour. With 12-to-15-year-olds along, the Labyrinth or the Okohua tour lets you all go together. And if you would rather stay dry, take the glowworm boat tour instead.
Sorted by review count. Tap a column header to re-sort.
| Photo | Tour | What's in it | Rating ↕ | Price ↕ | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Black Labyrinth (glowworm tubing) | Tubing on the underground river, waterfall jumps, glowworm float · 3 h · age 12+ | ★ 4.9 (1,870) | NZ$ 199 per person | Book now |
|
|
Black Abyss (abseil, zipline, tubing) | 35-m abseil, glowworm zipline, waterfall climbing, tubing · 5 h · age 16+ | ★ 5.0 (298) | NZ$ 332 per person | Book now |
|
|
Okohua Glowworm Cave (small group) | Caving, swimming and tubing in a private cave, guide photos, hot tub · 3.5 h · age 12+ · up to 6 guests | ★ 5.0 (172) | NZ$ 269 per person | Book now |
Prices come live from Viator and GetYourGuide and include taxes and booking fees. On the Black Labyrinth and the Black Abyss, the photos the operator sells afterwards are extra. “What’s in it” summarises the product title. The full inclusions are on the product page.
The Black Labyrinth is three hours of tubing on the underground river through Ruakuri Cave, with backwards waterfall jumps and a float under the glowworms, with no ropes involved. The Black Abyss takes five hours and adds a 35-metre abseil into the cave, a zipline through a glowworm gallery and waterfall climbing before the tubing. Same operator, same cave system; the Abyss is the far more demanding version.
If you want an adventure that asks something of you, yes. The abseil, the zipline in the dark and the climbs are what the extra two hours are for. If your goal is the glowworm experience itself, the Labyrinth delivers it in three hours instead of five. The choice is about matching the tour to your intent, not about one tour objectively beating the other.
No. The Black Abyss has a hard minimum age of 16; the Black Labyrinth starts at 12. Both tours also require a minimum body weight of 45 kg. If your group includes anyone between 12 and 15, the Black Labyrinth or the Okohua Cave tour are the ones you can do together; on the Okohua tour, under-18s need a caregiver aged 18 or over with them.
The operator explicitly asks for good fitness: you abseil 35 metres, climb waterfalls and spend around five hours moving through a cool cave. You do not need to be an athlete, but if climbing several flights of stairs already feels like a workout, book the Black Labyrinth instead, which needs no more than a reasonable level of activity.
Yes. Each one floats an underground river under glowworm ceilings. The Black Abyss adds a zipline through a glowworm gallery in total darkness, and on the Okohua tour reviewers describe glowworm-lit passages as well as the float. What separates the tours is the adrenaline level and the group size, not the glowworms.
The Black Labyrinth and the Black Abyss go through the same cave system, so darkness and enclosed passages are part of either. The Labyrinth is shorter and has no ropes, which makes it the gentler introduction; the Abyss commits you for five hours and starts with a 35-metre descent. The Okohua route has tight spaces and a ladder down a narrow tunnel at the start, though reviewers describe the guides offering easier ways round. If tight, dark spaces are a real concern, consider the walking or boat tours through the Waitomo caves instead.
It is run by a different, family-owned company in its own cave on a farm about ten minutes from Waitomo Village. Groups are capped at six, the guide photos and videos are included, and the tour ends with a cedar hot tub. The route is more caving than floating: walking, wading, swimming and climbing, with a tubing section whose length depends on the water level.
Physically yes, on different days. They run year-round and cover different routes through the cave system. If you are tempted by both, do the Black Abyss while you are fresh and keep the Labyrinth as the relaxed second visit rather than the other way round.
Every tour with live prices in one table.
See the comparison